


"First Date"

by SecretlyAFrogman



Series: Summer of Akiham [2]
Category: Persona 3
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19072276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretlyAFrogman/pseuds/SecretlyAFrogman
Summary: Going out for breakfast shouldn't be an ordeal. But for Akihiko, this was more stressful than it should have ever been. Part 2 of the Summer of Akiham.





	"First Date"

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the wonderful people on the Akiham Discord Server. Shoutout to all of you! Mostly this post. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

“Shi-Shinji!?”

The older male looked up from his cookbook, an eyebrow raised as his best friend came rushing into his room. “What do you want, Aki?” 

The younger man was obviously flustered, red in his cheeks and his eyes wide and wild as he tried desperately to find the right words to say. “M-M-Minako! Sh-She asked me t-to join her for pa-pancakes tomorrow morning!” 

“Is that it?” Shinjiro sighed and put down his cookbook, making sure to save his place as he stood and approached Akihiko. “Seriously, you’re useless without me. What would you have done had I not come back to SEES?” 

Akihiko frowned. Usually, he would scold the other for insulting him, but he really needed the help here. “Come on, Shinji!” Other girls had asked him out before, but he had always declined their advances. But with Minako, it was all so...different. He couldn’t put a finger on why, but she was really throwing him for a loop here. “I don’t even know why I said yes. But now I’m here and I don’t know how to get out of it. What am I going to do?” 

“You came to me for advice, right?” Grabbing onto Akihiko’s shoulder, Shinjiro proceeded to turn him around and shove him out the door. “Go out as friends. Be yourself. Don’t do anything fucking stupid.” A quick slam of the door and Shinji found himself alone again. “Moron…” 

Akihiko stood dumbfounded for a few moments, trying to compose himself as he took in Shinjiro’s words. This wasn’t a date. He and Minako were just going as friends. Just friends. And he was a pretty interesting person that chatting with her shouldn’t be too hard. He could easily be himself. And not doing anything stupid? When did he ever do anything stupid? No, nothing about tomorrow could go wrong. 

Nothing. At. All. 

\--------------------

Minako lay on her bed, headphones in and a romance novel in her hands when the sound of a hard knock interrupted her thoughts. Placing the book down, she stood up and took out her headphones, going to the door and opening it just a crack. “Shinjiro-senpai?” 

“Hey.” He moved away slightly to allow her more room. “Mind coming out here for a moment? I need to speak with you.” 

A puzzled expression passed over the girl’s features but she nodded, stepping out of her dorm room and closing it behind her before leaning against the door. “Is everything alright?” 

The male nodded. “Yeah. I just wanted to speak with you about Akihiko.” 

Minako tilted her head curiously. “Akihiko-senpai? Is he alright? Does he need anything? Is there anything I can…”

“Calm down.” Shinjiro sighed, reaching up to scratch around the rim of his beanie. “He’s fine. But he came to me earlier saying that you had asked him out for pancakes tomorrow.”

She blushed, fidgeting with the strings of her left headphone. “I just want to get to know him better. That’s all.”

A heavy sigh. “Listen, don’t bullshit me.” It wasn’t said with malice, but with enough authority for Minako to know that he knew, he knew how she really felt. As red eyes met him, he placed a hand on Minako’s shoulder. “Akihiko’s too damn soft and kind for his own good. He’s a cry baby, he’s an idiot, he’s protective and proud and he needs someone to keep him grounded.” A look of sincerity as he gave her a soft and kind smile, something almost unseen by anyone that knew him. “Take care of him, will you?” 

“Senpai…” Minako blinked a few times before a look of determination passed over her features. “We’ll both take care of him.”

A sad look passed over Shinjiro’s face and he nodded. “I guess we will.” He knew what tomorrow was, knew that he probably wasn’t going to be able to take care of him any longer. But she was here, and she was good for Akihiko. He knew that he would be leaving him in good hands. “Just go easy on him tomorrow. He doesn’t have the best grasp on what to do when it comes to the opposite sex. He might say and do some stupid shit, but he means well. Promise me you won’t be too abrasive and make sure you give him time. Seem interested in what he’s talking about even if it bores you to tears. And listen and compromise with him.” 

Minako grinned and saluted. “Yes, Senpai!” She giggled and gave Shinjiro a hug before turning back to her door. “You’re a really good friend to everyone here. It’s really been a pleasure getting to know you. And I appreciate your blessing if that’s what this is.” 

“All I’m doing is making sure the idiot doesn’t have a heart attack tomorrow.” A light chuckle and giggle between friends and he watched the young female enter back into her dorm and retire for the night. The last kind thing he could ever do for his best friend was done. Now he needed to focus on trying to get some rest before tomorrow. 

\--------------------

“Senpai?” 

Akihiko blinked, looking over the menu to the auburn-haired female who sat on the other side, a small smile on her face. A light blush filled his cheeks as he looked back down at the menu, flipping it over with a puzzled expression. “So what are we doing here, Minako?” 

The younger female placed a hand over her mouth, a sly smirk making its way over her features as she tried not to laugh. “Well, usually you read over the menu and choose what you like. But you seem to have forgotten how to read considering you’ve been flipping that menu over for the last five minutes. Do you need me to read it for you?” 

Akihiko blushed harder, reaching behind him and scratching the back of his head. “That’s not what I meant. Why did you bring me here?” 

Minako shrugged, looking back down at her menu. “I remember the conversation we had where you told me that you liked pancakes. Since you’ve been kind enough to buy me beef bowl after beef bowl, I thought I should return the favor. I found some extra money during our last expedition into Tartarus so I thought it was finally time.” She paused when their waitress walked over, taking the time to order a stack of fluffy pancakes before her eyes landed on Akihiko, waiting for him to order.

Glancing down at the menu, Akihiko shrugged and blurted out the same order as Minako. He watched the waitress write down their order before leaving to go and put it in. “You know you didn’t have to do that. We need to save that money for battle items and new equipment. Not on things like fluffy pancakes.” 

“It’s just a little leisure, Senpai!” Minako leaned back in her chair, twirling her straw. “Besides, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you better! I thought this could strengthen our friendship.” Not all the truth, but enough that she hoped Akihiko would believe her and that he wouldn’t notice the light blush that now colored her cheeks. 

“We could always talk at the dorm if you want to develop our friendship.” He took a sip of his water, enjoying the taste of the lemon he had put in it to sweeten it only slightly. 

“But there are other people at the dorm and I wanted it to just be the two of us.” God, was he really that clueless that he didn’t understand what she was trying to do? 

Akihiko shrugged. “Next time you want it to be the two of us, why don’t we go for a run? We can take Koromaru and go down to the shrine. Besides, we’ll need to run to work off the extra calories from the pancakes we’ll be eating.” He gave her a genuine and sweet smile. “What do you say? We could go as soon as we get back to the dorm.” 

Yep, as clueless as ever. But it was a nice offer regardless. “Oh! Well, Yukari and I are going to the mall after I leave here. But thanks.” 

They chatted casually with one another, Akihiko discussing his newest training techniques and Minako discussing what she had been doing with everyone else at the dorm. Akihiko discussing how happy he was that Shinji was back in the dorm and Minako discussing what an amazing cook Shinji was and how she enjoyed getting to know him over the past month. Akihiko discussing his plans after the Dark Hour was finally gone and Minako discussing what she planned to do once life was back to normal. 

After a few hours and two servings of fluffy pancakes, Minako and Akihiko left the small diner feeling closer to one another than ever before. 

“I really enjoyed that!” Minako grinned up at Akihiko as they walked back to the dorm together. “I never knew that triathlon athletes that trained in the ocean are stronger than ones that trained in pools. You have some interesting knowledge, Senpai.” 

“You think so?” Akihiko smiled, beaming from the compliment. “I can teach you everything I know if you want me to. We could be training partners.” 

“Sounds like fun, Senpai!” As Minako pushed open the door, she caught sight of Shinji who was sitting on the couch, Koromaru stretched across his lap, the same cookbook from last night in both of his hands. “Good day, Shinjiro-senpai!” 

“Hey…” came the gruff voice as he glanced up at the pair. “How did it go, Minako?” 

Minako smiled. “Really well! Akihiko-senpai didn’t do anything stupid if that’s what you’re asking.” 

A puzzled expression passed over the man’s feature. “W-What!?” 

“Sorry, Aki. I told her that you were nervous as hell about today and to take it easy on you.” Shinjiro shrugged and went back to his book. 

“You… You did what!?” 

A giggle from Minako. “It’s okay, Senpai! Shinjiro-senpai just wanted to help you out! I know that girls aren’t really your forte.” 

A deep blush filled his cheeks. “Th-That’s not true! I-I can…”

“It’s fine, Senpai! I really did have a good time!” Minako laughed hard now, shaking her head as she heard the cheerful voice of Yukari calling out to her from the front door of the dorm. “I look forward to our next outing. I promise to go on a run with you since you went and had pancakes with me. I’m sure that things will… work out better next time.” 

Was that a pun? Akihiko wanted to say something. Anything. But nothing seemed to come to mind. He just stood there and watched as a giggling Minako left the dorm with Yukari. 

“I’m… Am I really that clueless!? I’m not as bad as Junpei, am I!?”

“Worse.” Came the gruff voice from the couch. 

Akihiko wouldn’t stand for it. A quick glare in Shinjiro’s direction as he made his way up to his dorm room. 

Time to take out the dating advice magazines he kept under his bed. 

This was a battle he was determined not to lose. His next date with Minako would definitely go better. 

Wait a second… did he just think date!? Was that what this really was? Did he actually want their next outing to be a date? 

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that the idea didn’t seem too bad. 

Glancing at the calendar, the date of October 4th was circled multiple times. Today was the next full moon, the next time they would encounter another Arcana to defeat. 

Maybe he could ask Minako on a date for next week. 

Maybe he could ask Shinjiro for advice again. 

Maybe things would work out just fine…

Maybe…

**Author's Note:**

> I had a lot of trouble deciding what to do with Shinji's name. In the end, I decided that only Akihiko should call him by his nickname and everywhere else refers to him as "Shinjiro." 
> 
> I also have no idea if you should capitalize Senpai so I just went with doing so since it's done in the game and it's technically being used as a proper noun (I think...). 
> 
> Hopefully, the dialogue flowed well here. This one was a tough one to write.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Be back tomorrow for another part!


End file.
